Lessons
Class Introduction
07:11 2Canon Lens Basics
14:12 3Focal Length: Angle of View
11:31 4Focal Length: Normal Lenses
09:43 5Focal Length: Wide Angle Lenses
18:15 6Focal Length: Telephoto Lens
21:27 7Focal Length Rule of Thumb
15:36 8Field of View
10:14Aperture Basics
04:41 10Aperture: Maximum Aperture
18:44 11Aperture: Equivalent Focal Length
07:48 12Aperture: Depth of Field
06:23 13Aperture: Maximum Sharpness
08:33 14Aperture: Starburst Effect
05:18 15Aperture: Flare
06:48 16Aperture: Hyperfocal Distance
19:32 17Camera Mount System
14:57 18Canon Lens Compatibility
14:26 19Canon Lens Design
12:29 20Canon Lens Composition
04:30 21Canon Lens Shape
05:50 22Canon Lens Coating
06:53 23Canon Lens Focusing
14:10 24Lens Autofocus
08:17 25Canon Lens Image Stabilization
06:57 26Canon L Lenses
10:18 27Image Quality
09:46 28Canon Zoom Lenses: Standard
17:50 29Canon Super Zooms
05:20 30Canon Wide Zooms
09:48 31Canon Telephoto Zooms
16:09 32Prime Lens: Normal Lenses
09:19 33Prime Lens: Moderate Wide
07:01 34Prime Lens: Wide Angle
05:33 35Prime Lens: Ultra-Wide
09:23 36Prime Lens: Short Telephoto
09:03 37Prime Lens: Medium Telephoto
08:59 38Prime Lens: Super Telephoto
13:59 393rd Party Lenses Overview
06:01 403rd Party Prime Lenses
15:25 413rd Party Zoom Lenses
26:28 42Lens Accessories: Filters
33:42 43Lens Accessories: Lens Hoods
09:58 44Lens Accessories: Tripod Mount
04:51 45Lens Accessories: Extension Tubes
04:30 46Lens Accessories: Extenders
13:11 47Macro Lens: Reproduction Ratio
18:59 48Macro Lens: Technique and Choices
25:59 49Fisheye: Technique and Choices
18:49 50Tilt Shift: Techniques and Choices
27:08 51Make a Lens System Choice
05:37 52Choosing A Portrait Lens
17:21 53Choosing A Sports Lens
17:31 54Choosing A Landscape Lens
10:39 55Best Lenses for You
08:46 56Lens Maintenance
11:19 57Buying and Selling Lens
11:15 58What is John Greengo's Favorite Lens?
08:37Lesson Info
Lens Accessories: Tripod Mount
Okay, so next up, let's talk about tripod mounting systems. If you have ah, beast, a bigger type of lens telephoto lens, this is not the best way to mount it to a tripod. The camera is mounted be a plate system here and is a lot of weight over the front. And so this is an option on some lenses that you could get a tripod collar and get the camera centered in weight and has become much better balanced. And it's gonna blow around in the wind less. It's going to droop less on the tripod, and so it's a better system, but it is a little bit beef your system, So if you turn your camera vertically, it's throw. It does a couple things. Number one. It throws the weight in a different spot on your tripod. But for those of you who are careful about your compositions, this repositions your camera. Let's say I want a horizontal and a vertical of the same shot. Now you have to raise your tripod up and you have to move it over, which in some cases can take a couple of minutes to get all the legs and ...
everything just in the right place to do this. And so if you have a tripod color for these long lenses, it is so easy just to loosen up the knob, turn the camera vertically and the lens stays in exactly the same place and it's better balanced. And so if you're working from a tripod, it is really, really nice. It's also kind of nice handheld, because it gives you a good place to put the I tripod holder right in the middle of your hands, a very convenient place to hold it. And so this is something that's going to be found on some of their macro lenses and most all of their big white lenses that you'll see. So there is a number of lenses that are kind of in the short telephoto range that the tripod is an optional accessory. And so they do make a couple of different tripod Mount rings as they're called, and these were going to sell for about $150. And if you are gonna be shooting from a tripod quite a bit with these lenses, I would recommend using it. It's ah, it's a really nice accessory. I recently picked up with 100 Micro Mac Macro. Excuse me. And I knew that I would be using this on a tripod a lot. And so I got the ring here. I have a little adapter, so it fits on my particular tripod, and it's just a very steady place to shoot this. And it's really nice when I'm shooting verticals because I could just take this and I could turn this vertically and the lens does not move from its position. And so I don't have to reposition the tripod. And so it's a nice little system. And what's nice about this is that if I am going to be going out and about and I'm gonna be doing something off the tripod, I can take this whole thing off and leave this extra weight behind. And so that's the actual device right here. And it could be taken on and off. And these are the types of things that are gonna last for many, many, many years because there's really not much to go wrong on it. And so the reason we're gonna be using these is for increased stability, sharper pictures and easy aspect rotations. So we don't have to reposition or tripod will save us time going from vertical, the horizontal. Now some of the bigger lenses are kind of unusual because they have feet built in to their lenses and they will have a removable foot, not the whole collar, cause the collar is really part of the whole lend system here. And so, like this, 300 to 8 has a removable foot, and in this case, you can add in an aftermarket accessory, for instance rather than on this camera. I have added in this extra plate so that I could mount it on my tripod. On the 302.8, there is an entire replacement foot. So I've lost the white section here and now I don't have to have an extra plate. It's a little bit slimmer and trimmer in profile, and it fits right onto my tripod and look straight in. And Canon did a really smart design on this. They've designed these four screws in here, which tighten up very nice, And if I was to really torque this just really bad, it would actually have a system in here that breaks off before it tears the lens apart and tears the whole amount to the Lancet. So it's kind of a breakaway system in, ah, horrible situation. And so this is a really nice system. And so the one that I bought was the really right stuff. Kirk makes some really good stuff. I prefer the really right stuff in this case, just cause they had a little bit smoother edges here. And this is just a really nice handle. And so you want this to be very comfortable in your hand because I end up hand holding this as much as I do, putting it in Tripod. So I want this to be very comfortable in my hand, using it here and so very nice little device, very handy.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
user-b3a96c
I so appreciate what a good teacher John is. I wish I would have known this much about lenses when I first started out buying my lenses. It was hard finding information about lenses. I didn't want to spend money on a lens I wouldn't use. The better understanding we have about our gear the better photographers we will be. I have never seen a class like this. Invaluable...yes I bought the class! I am really impressed with the high quality photography classes available on Creative Live!
Tami Miller
Have loved the other John Greengo classes I've watched & purchased - and this is another winner! Having been a high school/college science teacher, it is refreshing to take a course with someone who not only is extremely experienced, seems to be a computer having stored so much knowledge, but is equally concerned about making the information truly understandable to different levels. And he shares the information using every tool he can: slides, video, interactive presentations, and great quizzes. I learned so much about my Canon lenses - and lenses in general with their many components. I am excited about testing each of mine to see what macro ratio they handle, and especially appreciated the tutorial on testing each for their specific quirk that affects super sharpness. This class is great whether you own Canon lenses or not. Thanks John Greengo!
Abbeylynne
This was a great class not just about the lenses that Canon offers but also how each lens works. As usual, John's slides are alway informative and entertaining. There is a phrase: John has a slide for that! I am not even a Canon user and found this class to have great information for the use of each specific lens. Great work John! Thank you Creative Live for another great class!
Student Work
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Fundamentals